Google Adwords is an excellent way to boost your business fast by turning your web clicks into conversions. By placing you at the forefront of keyword and key phrase specific search results, you can put your product or service in front of the eyes of your target demographic. Yet we often find that clients want to Google their ad campaigns in order to see how well they’re ranking. A practice that can actually hinder your campaign.

You Should Never Google Your Ads

Every time you Google your ads, you use what Adwords refers to as “impressions.” Impressions are how many times an ad from your campaign appears within someone’s search results. When you search your ad without clicking on it, you add to your number of impressions while reducing your click-through rate. The lower your click-through rate, the less relevant Google’s algorithms find it to be, which in turn will reduce your odds of showing up in relevant search terms.

“But what if I click on my ad?” Keep in mind that your ads are PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, meaning it costs you money every time a user clicks on your ad. You’ll want to avoid wasting your campaign budgets on clicks that don’t lead to conversions.

However, the good news is that you can view your ads and determine how they show up based on your specific keyword or key phrase searches.

How to Properly View Your Adwords Ads

If you want to view and test how your campaign is ranking in Google, use the Adwords Ad Preview tool. This anonymous search tool will allow you to research how your ad will rank based on:

Search term or phrase

Location the search was made in

Language the search as made in

The Device Used for the Search

The advantage of using the Adwords Ad Preview tool is that it doesn’t count against your impressions, so you won’t compromise your click-through-rate or risk unnecessary PPC costs while researching how your ad shows up in the search engine.